Brendan Rodgers’s Leicester City, David Moyes’s West Ham United and Nigel Pearson’s Watford have all been linked with Sporting Lisbon’s Gonzalo Plata.
Sporting Lisbon star Gonzalo Plata admits that he is dreaming of a move to the Premier League amid links with Leicester City, West Ham United and Watford, speaking to
A club who gave us Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani, and Luis Figo appear to have unearthed another wing wonder. The jet-heeled Plata is the latest in a string of exciting young talents to emerge out of Ecuador in recent times and, after just 11 Primeira Liga appearances, Sporting are already facing a challenge as they look to keep the 20-year-old in Lisbon.
The Sun (15 March, page 60) claimed that Leicester and Watford were hoping that a £20 million bid would be enough to tempt Sporting to sell. The Lions are tough negotiators however and a club that makes even Daniel Levy look like a walkover are expected to demand closer to £45 million for a youngster who also has admirers at West Ham (A Bola).
But with Plata seeing a potential move to England with ‘good eyes’, as they often say on the continent, a summer switch might be on the cards after all.
“Of course, everyone dreams of the Premier League. When I was little, it was the European league I watched the most,” says the four-time international, who went onto explain why he turned down a move to Barcelona before moving to Portugal.
“Yes, I was very close to Barcelona. But it seemed to me that Sporting was more favourable for my career, because of my age, the minutes (I would play).
“Of course, playing with Messi, at that time Neymar, Suarez … training with them would have been spectacular.”
Leicester are in the midst of perhaps the greatest period in their modern history with Champions League football on it’s way back to the King Power. And a club who have made a habit of unearthing diamonds in the rough, from Jamie Vardy to Riyad Mahrez, N’Golo Kante to Wilfried Ndidi, might have just found another gem.
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